By IANS
Thiruvananthapuram/Kochi : Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan termed as “unfortunate” the Kerala High Court’s observation Tuesday that central forces should be deployed in troubled Kannur district, where political clashes last week left seven people dead.
Justice V. Ramkumar had said: “The only solution is deploying central forces that would not yield to those in power. It is hoped that a gubernatorial move to apprise the central government takes place.”
Justice Ramkumar made this observation while asking the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe a political murder in which a CPI-M activist is an accused.
In a rebuttal of the judgment, Vijayan said that the judiciary was “entering” the territory of governance.
“It is rather unfortunate that the judge has said things which are beyond his purview. This should not happen. The judge should have asked the view of the government and for that the Advocate General’s views should have been sought, which he did not do,” Vijayan told reporters Tuesday evening.
He also pointed out that the judge made this observation while handing out a judgment on a different case.
“Without knowing what the state government did, how can he come to a conclusion. This is a clear intervention in the affairs of the government. These things should have happened only through a judicial scrutiny and not by making remarks based on newspaper reports. Can a high court judge speak like the leader of opposition Oommen Chandy,? asked Vijayan.
When asked if this would invite contempt of court proceedings, Vijayan said he had not done anything wrong but just pointed out things.
“The judge has got authority but should stay within limits,” added Vijayan.
The court also observed that the victims of political violence usually hail from the lower strata of society.
The observation comes in the wake of political clashes between the cadres of the CPI-M and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) last week.
The recent bout of violence started when a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader was attacked in Thalassery Wednesday. Three people lost their lives later Wednesday in retaliation by RSS and BJP and in counter attacks by the CPI-M. While one person was killed Thursday, two others were murdered Friday.
Both the opposition Congress and BJP leaders have been demanding that central forces be deployed in Kannur, which has been a hotbed of political violence between the CPI-M and the BJP-RSS combine for several years now.